Leo's Dilemma
by StarStruck99
Summary: Leo is overworked and wrought with guilt. He thinks that what happened to Percy and Annabeth is his fault. But one night as he works in his workshop, someone comes to visit him. Can they change his mind? And what will have happened by the end of it? Not for Frank/Hazel shippers.


***SPOILERS FOR MARK OF ATHENA! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT, DON'T READ ANY OF THIS!***

**A/N: So, this was written a few months ago, right after the Mark of Athena came out. I just haven't gotten to posting it. Am I the only one who started to sorta ship Leo/Hazel? I mean, Frank is awesome and all, but Leo (in my opinion) is just _better_. So please, don't sue me for writing this pairing. And I know it may seem a little far-fetched that Leo is this, uh, crazy, but think about it. In his mind, its his fault that Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. Add to that the pressure of getting everyone to the Doors of Death and building Archimides complicated machines, it would be pretty stressful. So just keep that in mind.**

**And in my head, Hazel is older than 13. Cause c'mon, she definitely acts mature for her age.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson is not owned by me. He belongs to the troll Rick Riordan (Heh heh...love ya Ricky!)**

* * *

Leo wiped the sweat off his brow, leaving a grease streak on his forehead. The workshop was hot and stuffy, cluttered with parts and half-finished machines. Leo winced as the machine he was working on gave off a particularly loud bang, echoing throughout the ship. Everyone was asleep, and he didn't want anyone to think there was an attack.

He fumbled with the switches, finally managing to turn it off. He listened intently for any sign that he had woken his crewmates up. It was late at night, and Leo knew from experience that demigods did not appreciate being woken up unnecessarily. He shivered as he remembered when Piper had been woken up the last time he had worked too loudly. First she had yelled at him for being too noisy, then, noticing how exhausted he looked, yelled at him for working too hard. She had sent him up to bed, despite his protests that Archimedes' weapons wouldn't build themselves.

Scowling at the memory, Leo tried to figure out what he had done wrong this time. It had taken many tries and fails to get this far on the project, and now something had gone wrong again. Leo resisted the urge to just lie down and forget about everything. He couldn't, not now when he was so close.

It had been a week since Percy and Annabeth had disappeared into Tartarus, and he was getting desperate. Most of his time was spent inside his workshop, deciphering Archimedes blueprints and attempting to build the complicated weapons. Already he had constructed a few things, but now he was working on the jewel of the collection. If Leo got this right, he knew it could really help them out in the war. The problem was, the designs for it were the most complicated thing he had ever seen in his life. He thought even his mother would have trouble with it.

_Don't think of her_, Leo scolded himself, _you've got work to do_.

Sighing heavily, he pried open the lid at the top and peered down into the gears. He chewed his lip, trying to figure out what he would need to adapt and change. Leo's heart sank as he thought of how much more work that would mean. These days, he felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. But he couldn't give up now—Annabeth and Percy were counting on him to get the rest of the crew to the Doors of Death. And since Leo blamed himself for them falling into Tartarus, it was pretty much mandatory that he fixed this.

"Leo, what are you doing still up?"

Leo jumped, hitting his head on the lid. Cursing quietly, he turned to see Hazel staring at him expectantly with sleepy eyes, clad in pajama's. He wanted to smirk at the cute, dazed expression on her face, but couldn't summon the energy to do so. _Plus_, he reminded himself, _she's Frank's_. And that meant off-limits.

"Leo?" her question brought him back to earth.

"Oh, I was just trying to get this to work." He stuttered a bit, gesturing to the mass of machinery behind him. "I can't seem to figure it out."

"How long have you been working?" Hazel asked, with what looked like concern in her eyes, though Leo wouldn't delude himself into hoping so. _She's Frank's_, he thought again desperately.

"Um, let's see. So I missed dinner, so that would be about—seven hours? Eight. Eight hours," he said somewhat proudly, missing the exasperation and worry that flashed across Hazel's face.

"Leo," Hazel said gently, moving towards him. She lightly touched his arm, sending thrills through Leo's body. "You can't overwork yourself like this. You need to sleep and eat—you can't work day and night like this."

Leo tightened. She didn't understand—how could he think about stopping when there was so much work to do? He didn't deserve to rest, not after sending Percy and Annabeth down to Tartarus. That stupid fortune cookie! He didn't regret anything more than opening it. He should've known that Nemesis would pull something like that—why would you ever trust the goddess of revenge?

"I can't," he said stiffly. "There's too much I have to do."

"Leo, you need to rest."

"I'm _fine_, Hazel." Leo turned back to the machine, a note of finality in his voice. "Now can you go? I have a lot of work to do."

He heard Hazel move towards him. "But you don't have to do it all by yourself, Leo. That's too much pressure to put on a person. And you won't be able to do a good job if you're exhausted and starved. At least let us help you," Hazel added at the end, seeing the look on Leo's face. He stepped away from her and started furiously pacing.

"Oh, please!" Leo finally lost it, all his pent-up feelings coming out in one big explosion. "Piper is useless with tools, and it's not like you stupid Romans could comprehend this kind of complex machinery!"

Leo ignored the hurt expression on Hazel's face, though his heart gave a twinge. It felt good getting this off his chest.

"Leo, calm down—" Hazel started, a slightly fearful look in her eye.

"Percy and Annabeth could be dying right now, and if I don't finish this they may never escape get out of Tartarus! And they _have_ to. Especially since its my own fault that they're even in this mess! I can't do anything right, and now I sent two people essential to the quest to the darkest, deepest, most evil pit in the world! And apparently you can't understand that to save the world I HAVE TO BUILD THESE STUPID MACHINES!" Leo's voice had gotten steadily louder and louder, until he was shouting.

He grabbed a part off the table, throwing it against the wall. He threw another and another, until he couldn't take it anymore. He crumpled to the ground, burying his face in his hands. His shoulders shook with silent sobs. He was so tired of it all, of the guilt and the work and the pressure. He just wanted it to end.

Leo heard Hazel step towards him and lower herself down next to him. He didn't move, unwilling to look and see the expression on her face. He imagined it was full of fear and disgust. He stubbornly remained in the comfort of his hands, not budging even when Hazel lay a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Leo, look at me." Hazel's voice was firm but kind. He debated with himself on whether or not to listen to her, but eventually he dropped his hands from his face, and turned his head to look at her. His breath caught slightly as his eyes met her golden ones.

"First of all, I'll ignore the comment about stupid Romans because I know that you're under a lot of pressure right now and you haven't been taking care of yourself like you should be," she put her finger against his lips to stop him from talking. Leo closed his mouth, frowning slightly. "But listen to me. It isn't your fault that Percy and Annabeth are gone. There is no way you could've stopped it."

"But the fortune cookie. If I hadn't opened it, they wouldn't have had to pay the price," Leo protested her words, knowing they weren't true. He was always messing up, this time no different, except the consequences were the worst they had ever been.

"But if you didn't open the fortune cookie, where would you, me and Frank be?" Hazel didn't wait for an answer. "The only way you could've saved us was by activating Armachades's weapon. To do that you needed the code."

"Archimedes," Leo automatically corrected. He felt a stirring of hope in his chest. Was Hazel right? Was this not entirely his fault?

Seeing he still wasn't convinced, Hazel continued. "We would've died without the fortune cookie, and then we wouldn't have been able to rescue Percy, Jason, Piper and Nico. We wouldn't have been able to get the statue, which could be the key to winning this war. And Annabeth may have fallen into Tartarus by herself, without Percy there to protect her. Really Leo, we're lucky you did that. "

Hazel smiled at him, and Leo half-heartedly grinned back. He felt better than he had in days, the guilt finally gone. Though he was still worried about Percy and Annabeth, the all-consuming need that had completely taken over him had disappeared.

"Thanks, Hazel," Leo said softly. His brown eyes looked up to meet her golden ones. "And I'm sorry for calling you a stupid Roman."

"Its okay," Hazel smiled sadly. "I know you didn't mean it."

"No, it's not." Leo almost whispered. "Because its one of the most untrue things that has ever left my mouth. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met."

Hazel brightened, a radiant grin that did funny things to Leo's heart. Leo couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked, despite the fact that her hair was mussed from sleep. Hazel always looked pretty. He wanted to kiss her so bad.

Before he could even think about what he was doing, Leo leaned in and captured her lips with his. He could feel Hazel stiffen, then slowly melt into the kiss. The only thought running through Leo's mind was oh-my-gods-I'm-kissing-Hazel-and-she's-kissing-me-back-and-wow-this-is-so-amazing. And it was. For a moment, Leo could forget about everything. It felt wonderful.

Slowly, he drew back, opening his eyes and looking into hers. The expression on her face was so adorably confused, he almost couldn't help himself and kiss her again.

He was about to give in when suddenly, an awful thought occurred to him. He sat back, a horror-struck look on his face. Because in the heat of the moment, Leo Valdez had forgotten one important fact.

Hazel had a boyfriend.

Not only was he one of Leo's friends, but he was one of the seven. And if they were to work well together, Frank could never, ever find out about this.

Obviously this thought had occurred to Hazel too. She looked distressed, the impact of the moment hitting her. Leo would've felt offended by the look on her face, except that he was pretty sure the exact same expression was on his face.

Hazel lifted her face to his, and he could see the confusion, sadness, but most of all guilt reflected in her golden eyes. "Oh gods, I can't believe I just cheated on Frank. Oh no, no no no no. What am I gonna tell him? I am such a horrible person!"

"Hazel—" Leo began, attempting to apologize.

"I'm sorry Leo, I can't do this right now. I have to go." Hazel cut him off, and stumbled away from him, running out of the room. Leo sighed and leaned back, momentarily forgetting there was nothing behind him. His head cracked against the floor, sending a throbbing pain through his temple.

But that pain didn't matter to Leo, because he had just kissed Hazel Levesque. Despite the fact that he knew there would be hell to pay if this got out, Leo couldn't help but smile and touch his lips.

He wished he could kiss her again.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. If you liked it, please review. If you didn't like it, please explain why _nicely_ and throw in some constructive criticism.**


End file.
